Prisoners
by augmentedfourth
Summary: Lune wages war against the Orakians in Landen and Elysium during Ayn's quest while Alair and Kara look on from Dahlia. Rated T for some violent/intense scenes.
1. Chapter 1

Lune watched as an ominous cloud of black smoke filled the horizon, his mouth set in a firm, straight line. There was no doubt in his mind that the biomonsters under his command had destroyed his Orakian targets, but leveling the village sent a message that was unmistakable in its intent. Laya's former general and closest confidante had finally been awakened after one thousand years of exile and he was angry. Someone had to pay.

He turned to the small group of soldiers that accompanied him. "Let's go see what treasures we can find," he ordered with a slight smirk.

As they made their way towards the ruins of Satera, Lune's thoughts traveled back to his sister. Alair had been kidnapped by the Orakian residents of Divisia in retaliation for his attacks, and her abduction had only increased his outrage. The Divisian army was strong and Lune and his followers had so far been unable to retrieve her, but giving up was not an option. Satera was weak and had no strong ruler or military forces and was the perfect target to serve as a warning to the other Orakian kingdoms. The weapons, armor, and supplies Lune and his men would retrieve would strengthen their power and allow them to attack Divisia more efficiently.

Another team of soldiers greeted their commander at the remains of the gates of Satera. The smell of smoldering wood and charred corpses didn't seem to bother Lune as he addressed his troops. "You left the stores intact?" he inquired.

"Yes, just as you instructed."

"Good. Once we're done searching them, we'll finish burning this place to the ground. Take anything that could be of any use to us."

The men split up and Lune entered the building closest to him. Its grimy, damaged sign stated that it was a weapons shop; even though he scoffed at most of the Orakian weapons, he thought it was possible that there could still be something useful inside. He immediately grabbed the stack of meseta behind the counter and was in the process of rifling through the store's shelves when he heard a noise above him.

He immediately stopped what he was doing and stood perfectly still, listening closely. A few minutes later, he heard the sound again: a creak in the floorboards on the second story. Someone was upstairs.

Not bothering to conceal his presence, he quickly ascended the staircase and looked around. He stalked about the upper level of the building, his steps ominously thudding against the wooden floor. Turning a corner, he came face-to-face with a man and woman crouched next to each other against the wall, quivering in fear.

With his fluorescent green hair that wildly cascaded past his shoulders and the silver robes that covered much of his body, the tall Layan commanded an intimidating presence for the young couple cowering before him. They both stared up at him wide-eyed, neither one saying a word, silently begging for mercy. The man held a small knife in his shaking hand, but the expression on his face belied his confidence in his ability to use it.

Lune swiftly kicked the knife away with his heavy boot, sending it clattering across the bare floor. Standing directly over the two people huddled at his feet, he reached for the slicer hanging from his belt. His weapon was originally designed to be thrown at a group of enemies, but the former military strategist had always been praised for his creative mind and his ability to think beyond obvious solutions to various situations. With his free hand, he grabbed a handful of the man's dark hair and yanked his head back. The curved blade glinted in the diminishing light as he raised it to his victim's throat.

Somewhere, deep within the recesses of his ancient memories, Laya's law of "kill no living thing" echoed in the soft, yet firm voice of his former leader, but her decree, along with the screams of the woman beside him, went ignored as he drew the slicer across the pale flesh, spilling thick crimson fluid over the man's clothing and down to the floor. His body went limp nearly instantly and Lune let him drop. "Filthy Orakian," he muttered, spitting upon the dead body. Turning his attentions to the woman, he raised the bloodstained slicer again and she covered her face with her arms, waiting for the fatal blow as her body shook with her frightened sobs.

Before he could inflict the sharp edge of his weapon upon her, something stopped him, despite his bloodthirsty rage. When nothing happened, she cautiously peered up at him through the thick, reddish hair that had fallen into her eyes, entirely unsure at that moment if she was going to live or die. "Get up," Lune growled at her, roughly grabbing her by the elbow and hauling her to her feet. He half-led, half-dragged her down the stairs and back outside, where the rest of his men were waiting with their loot.

"Bind her hands," he ordered. "The Divisians aren't the only ones who can take prisoners around here." One of the soldiers produced some rope and tied the woman's wrists together behind her back. "We'll head back to Dahlia with our prizes," Lune said, gesturing to the men he had arrived with. "As for the rest of you...finish what you started. Let Satera be an example to the others of what we are capable of doing."

The journey back to the shuttle in Aerone was a long one, but Lune refused to stop and rest for the night, even after the sky had grown dark. He led the way through the passage between Landen and Elysium and continued on to the point in the village from which they would take off towards the purple moon of Dahlia. Throughout the entire trip, the woman's cries and sniffles were wholly tuned out, and she managed to drift off to sleep once they had boarded the small spaceship.

Upon arriving at the desolate sphere that was now his home, Lune pulled his prisoner to her feet again and pushed her out of the shuttle. Exhausted and dazed, she was silent and put up no struggle as he dragged her down an isolated hallway in the spacious stone and glass palace that was his domain on the satellite and the base of his operations. He pushed open a door at the end and carelessly flung her inside, her body coming to rest against the cold wall of the small cell. Her soft cries continued as the tears resumed flowing down her dirty face, and she closed her eyes as she leaned her forehead against the cool stones.

"Go ahead and cry," he sneered at her. "It won't do you any good, nobody knows you're here and all your people are dead." She didn't answer and Lune let out a low chuckle, pleased with himself for having leveled the playing field with the Orakians. He crossed the tiny room until he was standing right next to her and bent down to whisper directly into her ear. "You are a prisoner of war," he murmured. Her face was still turned away from him, her eyes still closed, and he grabbed her chin and jerked her head around so she was forced to face him. "You will pay for the crimes committed by your Orakian brethren."

The panicked look in her eyes only further fueled his intense strength. Though he should have been tired from his travels, a combination of adrenaline and satisfaction at having asserted his dominance over one of the Orakian kingdoms heightened his senses. He could feel the blood coursing through his body, filling him with power, filling the room with his presence, and he felt a strange combination of being both unrestrained and in control of his forceful energy.

He grabbed the neckline of her dress and pulled her away from the wall, ignoring her pleading whimpers. The blood-encrusted slicer still hung from his waist and he reached for it again, using the tip to cut through the thin fabric. She yelped as he tore the garment away from her, exposing her skin to the cold night air. Her pleas for him to stop went unanswered as he shoved her across the small room, watching her stumble and fall backwards onto the bare cot that was one of the few accommodations provided for prisoners on the moon.

He watched her for several moments; she was trembling like a trapped animal and burying her face in her hands, clearly horrified by what she knew was coming next. The longer he waited, the louder her sobs became, her terror nearly tangible as she braced herself for the inevitable. As the level of her distress increased, so did his feelings of empowerment, until he could resist proving his authority to her no more.

The Orakian woman screamed as Lune advanced towards her and he made no effort to silence her, as he knew there would be no response to her cries for help. Her shrieks of anguish echoed off the stone walls of the confining chamber as he pinned her down, completely immobilizing her. Seething with thoughts of revenge for all the wrongs he believed had been inflicted upon him, he took out one thousand years of anger and frustration on the poor creature that was now his captive, a slave to his will and command.


	2. Chapter 2

Lune's visits to the prisoner were erratic and followed no set schedule. Sometimes weeks would pass, as he traveled the worlds below and directed his armies, while other times, he would impose himself upon her daily. Her fear of him never truly subsided and he was more than happy to continually remind her how she depended on him for survival. Threats of withholding food and water were occasionally made, and it wasn't long before she was completely submissive to his every whim.

Sometimes, for his own amusement, he would tease her with promises of her release. "If you're a good girl who obeys her master, maybe I'll take you for a walk outside," he taunted. "Maybe one day you'll even see your world again, but only if you please me!" Though he had no current plans to follow through with setting her free, he couldn't help but delight in the occasional glimmers of false hope that would further crush her spirit.

He was leaving her cell one day when he heard a commotion coming from the entrance to his palace. When he arrived at the gates, he was surprised to see a familiar form being escorted in by some of his best men. "Alair!" he exclaimed.

There were no embraces, no outward displays of affection, as that was not the nature of the siblings' relationship, but Alair managed a small smile in his direction. "It's good to be back here," she said softly.

"What happened? How did they get you out?"

She shook her head, her lime-green banded tendrils bouncing around her cheeks. "The Divisians let me go. They were afraid of another attack."

Lune smirked. "Good, they should be," he snorted.

She stepped closer to him and stared up into the dark blue eyes that perfectly mirrored her own. "Lune, you have to stop this senseless fighting."

"Senseless?" he scoffed. "Are you forgetting what Orakio did to us one thousand years ago? Are you forgetting what the vile spawn of his followers did to you just recently?"

"They've realized their mistakes, they know that no good will come of this endless war."

"Then they are weak."

Alair turned away from him. "I don't want to argue with you tonight. I am very tired and I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed."

He followed after her, not content to end the discussion on her terms. "I hardly think you're in any position to judge, dear sister," he said snidely. "You were banished here for the same reason I was."

"And that was a very long time ago," she pointed out, whirling around to face him again. "I have no desire to fight the Orakians any more. We've wasted far too much of our lives."

"Then you are as weak as they are. I should have realized that when you allowed yourself to be captured."

Alair raised an eyebrow at him and was about to respond when a pair of guards standing at the end of a distant hallway caught her eye. "What are they doing down there? No one ever goes into that wing anymore."

Lune fully met her gaze and refused to waver before his sister. "I've taken a prisoner, she was the sole survivor of our attack on Satera."

Her eyes widened slightly, but she was able to conceal her surprise for the most part. "Let her go."

"Absolutely not."

"The Orakians released me without harming me, keeping her here serves no purpose."

"Don't be foolish, Alair. Just because the Divisians were cowardly enough to cave in doesn't mean I'll be making the same mistake."

She shook her head again and pursed her lips into a straight line. "I don't think this is what Laya had in mind."

"This is exactly what Laya had in mind, for us to triumph over the Orakians once and for all."

"For a man who is over one thousand years old, you certainly don't seem to have grown very much." She put a her hand up when she saw Lune open his mouth to answer her. "I am going to bed now. Do not follow me."

Despite his urge to do otherwise, Lune obeyed her wishes and watched her disappear into he shadows. Though he was glad that his sister was safe, it hadn't exactly been the homecoming he'd expected. Shortly after she'd left him, he retired to his own chambers, hoping to get a good night's rest before continuing to plan his strategies the following day.

He was standing over a table, examining a map of Elysium with one of his generals, when Alair burst in early in the afternoon. "What have you done to that poor girl?" she angrily demanded.

The other man began to move towards the door, but Lune shook his head. "The Orakian does not concern you, Alair," he simply said before turning his attentions back to the map.

She stormed over to where he was standing and glared at him with her fiery sapphire eyes. "The Orakian has a name," she snapped. "It's -"

"You spoke to her?" Lune met his sister's raging stare with one of his own, barely able to control the rumbling ire that was building within him yet again.

"Barely! She was cowering in the corner, afraid to even look at me when I came in. I -"

"You had no business going in there," he cut her off again, "and you will not return."

She put her hands on her hips defiantly. "This is my home too, you know."

"If you are no longer going to fight alongside me in the name of Laya, then you will stay out of my dealings with the Orakians. If you are not with us, you are useless to me."

He didn't give her a chance to respond before stalking out of the room, slamming the door behind him. His boots pounded against the stone floors as he made his way to the far wing of his palace, ignoring the guards as they stepped aside to allow him to unlock and push open the door of the occupied cell. The prisoner was just as Alair had left her, sitting on her cot with her back against the wall and her knees to her chest, trying to make herself as small of a target as possible.

"You will not speak to my sister," he commanded. She flinched at the deep, authoritative tones of his voice emanating throughout the near-empty chamber, but he thought he saw her nod her head just slightly. "She has no power here, I am in control of this moon. If she dares to enter this cell again, you will not acknowledge her presence. If I find out you chose not to obey me, there will be consequences."

Sounds of a scuffle outside indicated that Alair had followed him, but the heavy door muffled most of the noise and obscured the details of the ongoing argument. "Do you understand?" he asked the terrified woman. She nodded again. "Answer me!" he bellowed.

She meekly obliged. He exited the cell and paid no attention to the obviously distressed Alair. "She is not allowed here," he instructed the guards. "No one enters or leaves without my permission."

"Yes, sir."

Turning around, he finally acknowledged his furious sister. "Don't do anything stupid," he suggested to the petite woman who was both outweighed and outnumbered by the muscular guards. "Unlike you, these men are loyal to me."

She scurried after him as he took off down the hallway. "Just let her go home," she begged again.

Lune spun around to face her and laughed. "Home? She has no home. We made sure to demolish every trace of that Orakian cesspool."

"She can go to Landen. The town is far enough away that there probably won't be any retaliation if you just release her, unharmed."

"Landen will be nothing but a pile of rubble in the future. The Orakians must pay for what they did to us."

Alair's expression changed; instead of anger, her face now displayed pity and sadness. "That all happened so long ago," she said softly. "I've gotten past it; I wish you could, too."

"One thousand years of imprisonment is not something I can easily forgive."

"Then perhaps it is you who is the weak one, as you cannot relinquish your feelings of hate. I'm sorry you're so miserable and I'm sorry you feel the need to inflict your misery on others."

For the first time in their entire lives, Lune did not have a quick retort for his sister. With one last reproachful look, Alair calmly walked away, leaving her brother to stare after her in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

Due to their inability to agree on certain fundamental points, the siblings kept to themselves in the following weeks. Alair didn't keep track of her brother's comings and goings from the small satellite and chose to stay mainly in her own chambers. On the opposite end of the palace, the prisoner's ever-distending abdomen offered proof of one of Lune's more reprehensible activities. Once the pregnancy was confirmed by the trained medics in the infirmary, it didn't take long for the whispered news to spread to every inhabitant of Dahlia.

Lune had heard the door open, but as soon as he turned around, he was met by a stinging slap across the face. "You are _disgusting_!" Alair screamed at him.

He grabbed his sister by the wrist. "If you ever lay a hand on me in that manner again," he said calmly, "it will be the very last thing you do."

She jerked her arm out of his grasp. "I...I can't even...I don't even know what to say to you right now," she stuttered. "I am ashamed to even be related to someone as vile and disturbed as you so clearly are."

Lune paid no attention to her angry words. "She will bear me a son. Unlike you, he shall grow up to fight alongside me in the name of Laya and help bring glory to our people."

Alair closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in exasperation. "There is something wrong with you. There is _really_ something wrong with you."

"At least I'm trying to ensure that our family line doesn't end with us. That's more than I can say for you." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Though I can't say I've seen any men lining up to marry you and take you away from this place."

She shared her brother's ability to shrug off petty insults. "You won't have to worry about me being here much longer. I have no intentions of staying here and condoning your abhorrent actions."

Lune let out a nasty chuckle. "Go ahead. Leave. I guess you've forgotten what happened the last time you tried to go back to the ship." He paced around her in a small circle, still grinning cruelly. "You might as well have a target on your back. There are plenty of people down below who are foolish enough to believe that harming you would have any effect on my efforts to destroy them. Getting into that shuttle is just as good as signing your own order of execution." He stopped in front of her and stared directly into her eyes. "If you want to keep breathing, I suppose you are also a prisoner here. Funny, isn't it?"

Alair had no counter-argument, for she knew he was right. "It doesn't have to be this way. When are you going to finally realize that there's no point to all this fighting? No one is ever going to 'win'; how many of your own men are going to have to die before you realize that?"

"I'm not going to prevent you from leaving," he said, his voice still cool and even. "But I am also not going to tolerate these futile debates. I'm sure we can find a way to live together civilly, but this is the last time we will discuss my business with the Orakians. Now, I have work to do."

Lune turned back to his plans and diagrams, but Alair still didn't leave the room. "Can you at least let her out of that cramped cell and make her more comfortable?" she asked softly.

"The medical team has orders to check on her at specific intervals," he said without looking up.

"One would think you'd be concerned for the health of your child, especially when you have such grand expectations for him."

Lune paused. "I shall consider your request," he finally conceded.

"Thank you."

With his sister mostly staying out of his way, the Layan commander was able to focus more on his strategies for bringing down more of the Orakian kingdoms. Messengers from the camps outside the ruins of Satera reported back that the ruler of Landen was an accomplished warrior and the city's military provided a near-impenetrable defense, so Lune turned his sights back to the smaller town of Divisia. Accompanied by some of his finest officers, he flew back down to Elysium for several weeks to better plan their future attacks.

Unfortunately, Divisia was situated right in between two thick forests, which provided an excellent natural barrier. The lush trees made it possible for them to get fairly close to the walls of the city undetected, but guiding a large army and hordes of monsters through the brush would be an entirely different situation. The northern and southern borders weren't as well-protected, but the towering castle in the center of the kingdom made it easy for both of them to be monitored.

"We would have to orchestrate a simultaneous attack from both the north and the south," Lune quietly said to his second-in-command. "Otherwise, one side would have too much advance notice of our presence. Let's go back to Dahlia and plan how to best mobilize the troops."

Though it was the middle of the night when they returned, many of the residents of the satellite's compound were awake and rushing about. Alair was even out of her room and, for the first time in months, she didn't appear to be visibly repulsed by her brother's presence. "Oh good, you got here in time," she said, abandoning all pleasantries and polite greetings.

He followed her to the doors of the infirmary, but hesitated outside, as he had no desire to personally witness the messy beginning stages of life. "How much longer?" he inquired.

"It's hard to estimate. She's been in there nearly all day."

"Is everything okay?"

"It seems to be. Granted, your medics don't have a whole lot of experience in this field, but I'm sure we'll manage." She pushed open the doors to rejoin the medical personnel, leaving Lune out in the hallway.

He paced back and forth along the stone floors, not straying too far from the immediate area and trying to ignore the various noises drifting through the doors. Though he had planned on immediately expanding upon his plans for battle upon returning home, he hadn't expected to be so anxious in anticipation of this moment and his soldiers kept their distance from him. In the future, his son would be by his side, helping him plan his strategies and share in his victories; though the embittered former general had never previously contemplated having his own family, he had to admit to himself that it was a rather pleasing picture.

After restlessly meandering for over an hour, he saw Alair finally emerge, beaming down at the swaddled bundle she was carefully holding. Lune joined her and stared at the bright red face of his angrily wailing child with a combination of curiosity and apprehension. "Everything went well?" he inquired.

"Yes. Mother and daughter are both doing fine," she said, never taking her eyes off the screeching newborn.

Lune snapped his head up to stare at his sister in surprise. "_Daughter_?"

"Yes. You have a perfectly healthy baby girl." Alair continued to coo at her new niece and rocked her gently.

He groaned and rubbed his eyes with his balled-up hands. "Useless Orakian wench..." he muttered.

"I don't really think she had much control over this," she reminded him.

Lune turned away from her and started anxiously pacing again, still mumbling about his disappointment under his breath. Instead of a son to continue on his family line, he now had to deal with the responsibility of raising a respectable daughter. Though he had nothing but the utmost respect for his former leader, Laya was, in his opinion, the only woman he had ever met who could hold her own on the battlefield. Even his own sister had given up on her warrior roots and had chosen not to fight with him. The dreams of having his own flesh and blood carry out his goals were quickly disappearing before him and he felt his rage begin to build deep within his chest.

Before he could begin to let out his frustrations on the nearest available target, a blood-curdling scream pierced through the air. The siblings exchanged panicked looks before racing through the doors, nearly knocking into the medics rushing around the room. On the floor lay the Orakian prisoner, the handle of a blade protruding from her chest, blood spilling out over her hands and onto the immaculate floor. Though the staff was trained in simple procedures and healing techniques, her aim had been unexpectedly precise, and their efforts to save her were proving to be entirely ineffective. Her eyes fixed on Lune as the life gradually drained from them and there were no longer any traces of fear or submission to be found in the dulling dark orbs.

Alair's free hand was clasped over her mouth in shock as she stared, horrified, at the gruesome scene. Lune furiously addressed the head of his medical team. "What the hell happened in here?" he demanded to know.

The man was shaken by what had transpired. "We...we thought she was resting! We were cleaning up in here...she just grabbed the knife and plunged it into her heart!"

Tears sprung to Alair's eyes as she glared at her brother, a whirlwind of tragic emotions displayed in their cobalt depths. "I hope you're satisfied with yourself," she hissed at him, still clutching the baby to her chest.

Lune stared down at the corpse at his feet for another moment before shrugging his shoulders and moving towards the door. "One more dead Orakian is not cause for such a hysterical display, pull yourselves together." Before exiting, he addressed Alair again, though he wouldn't look directly at her. "Do whatever you want with the child. Keep it, kill it; it makes no difference to me. I wash my hands of this entire situation." Having made his decisive declaration, he stormed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the years, the Orakians proved to be worthy opponents for the former general of Laya and were able to withstand his multiple attacks on their kingdoms. Lune refused to give up, though, and became even more dedicated to his cause of wiping out the opposing race. Additional training camps were built on Dahlia and his soldiers traveled to the Layan cities to recruit as many young men as possible for his army, even going as far as the distant land of Draconia. In the dungeon beneath his palace, he began breeding new biomonsters, modifying them to be stronger than ever before. The destruction of Satera had been his last significant victory and as more and more time passed, he grew even more frustrated and irritable.

He and several of his most trusted comrades were standing around a table, staring down at the maps of the different lands that they'd been studying for the better part of a decade. They were covered in various markings and symbols, signs of all the failed attacks, their disappointments and embarrassments. Divisia had continued to be their primary target, due to its close proximity to their base, but the well-guarded kingdom had refused to fall into their hands.

"If we can find a way to get through that forest, we could - " Lune stopped abruptly when he felt something tugging at his pant leg. He glanced down at the small child poking at his thigh. "What are you doing?" he sternly asked.

She stared up at him with her round eyes that were darker than the eternal night that surrounded the purple satellite. "Can I help?"

"Help? What? No!" Lune closed his eyes and shook his head. "Alair!" he hollered for his sister.

Alair appeared in the doorway in a matter of moments. "Kara! There you are!" she exclaimed. She gave Lune an apologetic look as she entered the room. "I'm sorry, I was checking on lunch and - "

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "I don't have time for this."

She bent down and took the child's hand. "Come, now, it's time to eat."

"No!" Kara shrieked, wrenching herself out of her aunt's grasp. "I want to stay here with Father!"

"Alair, I thought we had an agreement," he reminded her as she tried unsuccessfully to pry his daughter off his leg.

"Come on, Kara!" Alair tried to remain cheerful. "After lunch, we can go outside and play some games."

"I don't want to play, your games are stupid and boring!" Kara's disdain for her aunt and her apparent lack of authority was obvious. "I want to stay here!"

Lune was quickly losing patience. "Kara, go with your aunt," he commanded.

She loudly burst into tears, but allowed herself to be dragged out of the room. With an exasperated sigh, he turned back to his soldiers and continued planning the next attack on Divisia.

Later that evening, as he was in his quarters preparing for bed, Lune suddenly had the feeling that he was being watched. He spun around to find Kara hovering in the doorway, her pale face illuminated by the dim lights surrounding the entrance. Resisting the urge to summon his sister again, Lune didn't send the child away, but he didn't welcome her into the room, either.

As her father busied himself around his bedroom, Kara tiptoed inside and gingerly perched herself on top of a footstool, hugging her knees to her chest. She didn't say anything, just waited to be acknowledged. Minutes passed, but she was willing to wait patiently as she sat perfectly still, her dark eyes following her father's movements.

Lune finally paused and faced her, giving her a quick look up and down. He tried to remember how old she was...seven? Eight? He didn't think it had quite been ten years since the distraction had first arrived, though to be fair, she hadn't been _that_ much of a nuisance in the first years of her life. She seemed rather small for her age, he thought, before realizing that he really didn't have any standards to compare her to. Her straight, pale green hair was an exact replica of his, but her pitch black eyes were like nothing he had ever seen on a Layan before.

He raised an eyebrow at her and finally spoke. "Yes?"

"Can I go with you the next time you go down to the big spaceship?" she asked.

"No."

"Why not? I want to see the other worlds!"

"You'd be too much trouble to keep track of, I don't have the time to make sure you don't get in the way," he said plainly.

She seemed slightly hurt by the implication that she would be a burden, though she'd grown used to that sentiment over the years. "Aunt Alair could come with us," she offered.

Lune snorted. "Alair personally knows the dangers of leaving Dahlia, she is in no rush to do it again."

"When can I go with you, then?"

"I currently do not have any plans to take you down to the Alisa III." He watched her look down, trying to think of another argument to make for her case but coming up short. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Kara slid off the stool and stood up. She opened her mouth as if to speak again, but closed it without saying a word. Knowing that any outward displays of affection would be rebuffed, she simply nodded towards him before leaving for her own bedroom.

Several days later, Lune prepared for a lengthy journey to Elysium. The various supplies were packed and loaded into the cargo area of the shuttle and he was waiting for the last of his men to board. When everything appeared to be in place, he climbed aboard the small ship and was about to settle into his seat for the flight when he heard a bit of a commotion coming from behind him. Standing up, he turned around only to find his daughter being led to the front of the ship by a confused soldier.

"We found her hiding in the back of the shuttle, sir."

Kara remained silent as Lune grabbed her by the elbow and forced her down the ramp. His grip on her arm never loosened as he stormed through the hallways in search of his sister. Without bothering to knock, he pushed open the door to her quarters and all but flung the small girl inside.

Alair put down the book she was reading and looked up at the unexpected visitors in surprise. "Kara! You're supposed to be in your room!"

The thwarted stowaway still said nothing as Lune folded his arms across his chest and tried stay in control of his temper. "I cannot even begin to fathom how disastrous this mission could have been if she hadn't been discovered before takeoff."

For once, Alair agreed with him. "Kara, what were you thinking? You could have been in so much danger!" Though she was reprimanding her niece, her voice lacked the authoritative edge that was always present in that of her brother.

"I'm tired of being stuck on this horrible satellite! You always tell me about the other worlds on the spaceship, I wanted to see them for myself!"

Alair started to comfort the angry child, but Lune stepped between them. "We had a deal," he reminded her. "I was willing to let you keep her here as long as you kept her out of my way."

Her eyes darted to Kara, who was listening intently to every word. "Lune, I don't think this is the time or place - "

"You are failing to hold up your end of the bargain. I have made my expectations clear on many occasions and I have yet to see an improvement."

"I'm not going to lock her up in a cage," she snapped. "Even if that's how you've dealt with things in the past."

"Figure something out. We cannot have this happening again, I simply do not have time to deal with things that are your responsibility." He turned around to face his daughter. "You are not to go anywhere near the shuttle. That area is off-limits to you. Understood?"

She mirrored his gesture of crossing her arms and glared at him, but managed to keep her brief response respectful. "Yes, Father."

"I expect things to be different around here when I get back," he directed towards Alair. Without bothering with a polite farewell, he made his way back to the shuttle, grumbling about the inconveniences the two women had a tendency to cause him. Though he was met with a few inquisitive glances upon his return, he chose not to acknowledge them and sat down in his seat for the second time that day. As he closed his eyes, he realized that for once, he was glad to be escaping his home and desperately hoped that his frustrations would have subsided by the time he returned.


	5. Chapter 5

To say that things were not going well for Lune's armies on the Alisa III was a vast understatement. Waves of Orakian robots had been pouring into the western lands and none of the nearby kingdoms had claimed responsibility. Even more curiously, new species of biomonsters had been appearing that were not under the Layans' control.

Many of those under Lune's command, both Palmans and monsters alike, had been slaughtered in battle. He refused to concede defeat, however, and kept trying to find ways to both avoid the new enemies and break through the strongholds of the Orakian lands. Those who died were replaced by new recruits and he encouraged the men he had put in charge of the training programs to both enlist younger Layan males and send the new soldiers into the war zone even earlier than before.

Early one morning, before Lune could meet with his officers, there was a knock at his door. Alair greeted him, holding two cups of hot tea as if presenting a peace offering. He, however, chose to get right to the point. "What do you want, Alair?"

"One of your lieutenants came to see me in the middle of the night."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure I want to hear the rest of this story."

"He had Kara with him."

"Kara?" He groaned and shook his head. "What was she doing?"

"Apparently, she snuck into the training facility at night. I got her to admit that it wasn't her first time."

"I am going to have a word with that young lady as soon as I finish getting dressed." Lune gestured towards the door in an effort to get Alair to leave, but she remained, unmoving, in the center of the room. "Is there anything else?

She cocked her head to one side and frowned. "Well...he said from what he saw, she appears to have as much potential, if not more, than any of the boys her age coming in. She seems to have inherited your skills with a slicer."

"Oh really?" He couldn't keep his skepticism out of his voice.

"I said I'd speak to you and you can decide what to do."

"I don't see what decision needs to be made. You need to keep a better eye on her so she doesn't get into things she shouldn't."

Alair refused to back down from her brother, as this was a battle she was prepared to fight. "Kara is getting older, you know. She needs to do _something_ with her life. Why not encourage her natural talents?"

"Because they're never going to amount to anything? What, I'm supposed to bring her down to the ship with me and let her loose with the rest of the troops?"

"If that's what she wants, why not?"

"You sound ridiculous." Lune wanted to put a quick end to this conversation, so as much as it pained him to do so, he decided to compromise with his sister. "If she wants to use the training facility at night to play her little games, I suppose it's not a problem as long as she doesn't break anything or make a mess. I'll tell the lieutenant she has my permission, you go talk to her. Be sure to make my expectations clear."

"I always try," she sighed.

Several nights later, Lune's curiosity got the better of him and he made his way across the compound to where the young Layan soldiers learned combat skills. There was light coming from one of the large simulation rooms, designed to look like the landscapes of Elysium and Landen, and he quietly let himself inside. Kara was busy programming one of the vaguely camouflaged consoles and didn't notice her father enter behind her.

He watched as a half dozen lizards emerged from behind a mound of artificial grass. As they advanced upon the adolescent girl, she produced a curved blade and threw it at the nearest one. The slicer neatly bisected all six of them before returning to her hand, where she caught it with ease. Once the lizards had been disposed of, a group of genetically mutated snail/rodent hybrids appeared next. With her free hand, Kara reached out and sent a current of electricity through them, weakening their tough outer shells, before finishing them off with the slicer.

After several more groups packs of creatures had been eliminated, Lune audibly cleared his throat to alert her to his presence. She spun around and looked startled for a split second, but her her face quickly settled into its default sullen expression. Clipping her weapon to her belt, she silently stared at her father, waiting for a reaction and maybe, just maybe, a sign of his approval.

"I hear you've been coming in here at night for a while," he simply stated.

"Yes."

He carefully deliberated for a few moments on what he would say next. "If you'd like to train with the others, I suppose that wouldn't be a problem, as long as you don't get in the way."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Really?"

"It would save Alair from having to keep you out of trouble. Just so we're clear, though, this does not make you a member of my army and the moment you become a distraction or a hindrance to the others, I'm pulling you out. Understood?"

She nodded. "I understand."

"Then I guess you'd better be getting to bed. You'll be expected to report here early in the morning."

"Yes, Father. As soon as I shut down the machines and clean up in here, I'll leave."

"Good." Without any further conversation, he turned around and left the room.

Knowing that Kara was being supervised by someone more reliable than Alair was actually a relief to Lune, and he no longer had to worry about her being underfoot when he was trying to work. As long as she didn't prove detrimental to his program, he was willing to let her stay there indefinitely in order to keep her occupied. In his brief encounters with Alair, he vaguely noticed that she seemed more relaxed due to not having to keep track of her nearly-teenaged niece every minute of every day, but he had far more pressing concerns to occupy his mind.

Nestled safely in the middle of the thick forest, the kingdom of Divisia continued to be Lune's greatest source of frustration. Years of near-constant attacks had brought him no closer to his goal of destroying the Orakian inhabitants. The idea of retreat never crossed his mind, though, as letting the Orakians win was simply out of the question.

His army continued to battle the elements, the robots, the rogue biomonsters, and all sorts of other obstacles that stood in their way. They tried approaching from the open plains to the north, they tried slipping through the trees for a sneak attack, they even tried forging through the surrounding lakes to try to catch the Divisians by surprise; none of their methods were successful. Even as their numbers diminished, Lune instructed them to press on, determined to find a weakness in their defense.

As he frequently took a more hands-on approach when leading his men, he had narrowly avoided death himself several times. The new waves of enemies, both biological and mechanical, were stronger than anything he had ever seen before, even when he had been fighting alongside Laya in the previous millennium. Still, the incensed commander was determined to exact his revenge and would stop at nothing until he satisfied his thirst for Orakian blood.

He was frequently absent from the compound on Dahlia for months at a time, trusting that things would run smoothly while he supervised his forces down on the Alisa III. Though communication could be difficult when he was out in the field, trips to Aerone made it possible for him to stay in touch with the lunar base. He made an effort to greet the new troops as they arrived from the purple satellite, newly graduated from the training program, in order to issue his first set of orders personally.

As he inspected a new group of young soldiers that had recently descended from Dahlia, he thought he saw a familiar face underneath one of the helmets. Thinking that all the time spent out in the camps was causing his mind to play tricks on him, Lune started to continue down the line, but as he took a second look, he realized that there was no mistaking those fathomless black eyes. Without saying a word, he grabbed his daughter's wrist and yanked her out of the formation, leaving the rest of her team to stand motionless while waiting for further instructions.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed at her as he led her back in the direction of the shuttle.

"They said we were ready. I came down with the rest of my class," Kara answered plainly.

"This is not your place. You will return to Dahlia immediately."

"What _is_ my place?" she argued. "Sitting idly in your wretched palace, staring at the walls and waiting for something good to finally happen."

"Watch your tongue, young lady." The shuttle was now in sight and he had no intentions of stopping to debate his stance. "You will be a liability on the battlefield, just as your aunt was. Women are too weak and emotional to kill mercilessly and I can't be worrying about any hesitation at crucial moments."

"What about Laya?" she snapped.

"Even Laya declared that we should kill no living thing, and look where that got her. You are getting on that ship and going home."

Kara looked around and saw that there was no escape from the small hangar, except for the narrow passage where her father was standing. Having no other choice, she stepped onto the small ramp. "You know," she started, without a hint of emotion in her voice, "if you sent me out into battle and I died just like the hundreds, if not thousands, of men you've already lost, I wouldn't be such a burden to you anymore." Before Lune could formulate a response, she had already disappeared into the ship.


	6. Chapter 6

It was over. Too many lives had been lost and there was no way Lune was ever going to regain the upper hand in the ongoing battle against the Orakians. He had been defeated, plain and simple. There was nothing left for him but to pull his troops out of the Orakian lands and return home to Dahlia.

Tensions were high on the purple moon. Azura, the sister satellite on the opposite side of the Alisa III, had been blown out of the sky by a strange, powerful beam, and the residents of Dahlia were terrified of facing a similar fate. The destruction of the blue moon combined with the hordes of vicious monsters that had appeared led Lune to believe that something was very, very wrong with the worldship, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

He could have made a heartfelt, inspiring speech to those who were left, those who had remained loyal to him and faithful to his crusade to the very end, but it wasn't his way. Before dismissing them, he sincerely thanked his soldiers and granted them permission to continue residing on the satellite if they so desired. While several chose to stay in the place that had become their home, many chose to leave for the Layan towns on the Alisa III, still clearly shaken by the annihilation of Azura.

As the last of the shuttles prepared for takeoff, Lune retired to his chambers. He hadn't been able to reflect on his losses for very long when he heard the door violently open behind him, loudly crashing into the adjacent wall. He turned around, half-expecting to see Alair, but was greeted by the angry countenance of his daughter.

Nearly an adult at age seventeen, Kara confidently strode into her father's room to address him. Her pin-straight, lime-green hair now fell far past her shoulders, framing her severe cheekbones that formed a stark contrast to her delicate mouth. She was dressed in the masculine clothes of a soldier, having eschewed the traditional dress of Layan women long ago. As she approached him, her unforgiving black eyes stared at him with the dark fury that he imagined had been so evident in his own face for so much of the past two decades.

"So this is it?" she flippantly asked. "You're just giving up?"

"I do not wish to discuss this with you, Kara. Please leave."

"Well, I wish to discuss it with you, so I guess you'll just have to listen." She refused to back down from him, no longer afraid of any potential consequences. "For my entire life, you have done nothing but fight the Orakians and I was willing to accept that maybe you were correct, maybe you were fighting for this great cause that let me think that your treatment of me was somehow acceptable. But you've been beating your head against a wall for nearly twenty years and now you have nothing to show for it?"

Lune felt the heat of his residual anger rising to his cheeks. "Get out. Now."

She shook her head. "You have accomplished _nothing_. You've wasted your entire life because you've been consumed by your irrational hatred. You've wasted _my_ entire life because you couldn't see past your own selfish, petty desires." In that moment, he found himself looking into the dark, Orakian eyes of her mother, but this time, there was no fear; only utter contempt and defiance. "You are a sad, pathetic excuse for a man and I despise you," she spat.

Before he knew what he was doing, he felt his closed fist fly up and come into contact with the side of Kara's face. She was momentarily stunned, but her own rage quickly took over and her right knee slammed into his groin. He doubled over in pain and struggled to catch his breath as he tried to recover from the shock of his daughter's insolence. "You little..." he gasped.

Kara remained thoroughly unmoved by his anguish. "I am through listening to you, old man. I'll be leaving for the Alisa III in the morning, you won't have to worry about me getting in the way of your useless little war games ever again." She easily ducked his next attack as he lunged at her and she took a step backwards. A ball of bright orange fire appeared at her fingertips and she launched it down at the ground near his feet, scorching the pale brown stone. "Next time, I won't miss," she warned.

The aging warrior started preparing a technique of his own, but was distracted by another figure appearing in the doorway. "What the _hell_ is going on in here?" the newcomer screamed.

"Stay out of this, Alair!" Lune yelled back.

Alair looked back and forth between father and daughter, unsure of which one was the guiltier party. "I should just leave and let you two kill each other!" she cried as tears started forming in her eyes. "I can't be your mediator any more, I just can't. I'm tired of being the calm one, the rational one, the only sane one on this damned satellite." Neither of them responded, just resumed silently fuming at each other. "I came to tell you that we have some visitors from the Alisa III and they've requested an audience with you, Lune. Once you are done with them, I am done with you. I just don't have it in me anymore to deal with your shortcomings." With one last forlorn look, she turned around and left the room.

He followed her out and heard Kara's footsteps not far behind. The three of them arrived in the central room of the palace; the ornate columns and glass floors made this area the most elegant place on the entire satellite and allowed visitors to partake in a breathtaking view of the glimmering stars. Once he had situated himself at the head of the room, he instructed the guards to show in his guests.

Lune initially thought that he was hallucinating when he first laid eyes upon the beautiful blonde goddess who appeared before him, but he eventually realized that she was not his long-lost leader, but her younger sister. Laya's sibling was accompanied by three others: the last descendant of Orakio, and two combat cyborgs. Previously, Lune would have been incensed by an Orakian daring to set foot in his home, but he knew that nothing would come from fighting the young prince. There would be no more battles for the former general, no more orders given in his voice, no more blood on his hands.

Though they were sure that three of the four visitors knew exactly who they were, Lune and Alair briefly explained their history for the benefit of the prince. Alair begged for forgiveness and he nodded, claiming that they were not there to provoke an altercation. The leaders on the Alisa III, both Orakian and Layan alike, were equally perplexed by recent events and this group had set out to discover the truth. Side by side, the last descendants of Orakio and Laya themselves asked the former general for any assistance he could offer.

Before he could answer, Kara stepped in front of him. "Father's too weak to fight. I must do it!" she declared. She turned around to glare at him, anticipating a challenge, but none came. Wanting to avoid a scene similar to the one that had played out only moments earlier, Lune chose not to interrupt. "Father, lend me your slicer!" she demanded with her palm outstretched.

He wordlessly handed over the sharp blade that had brought death to so many over the past millennium. She took it from him and joined the group; before they could leave, one of the guards reminded them that there were extra parts for one of the cyborgs in the underground dungeon. After expressing his gratitude, the prince led the way to one of the room's exits.

Lune watched them walk away from him. "Kara?" he tentatively called.

She spun around to face him. "What?"

He thought of what he wanted to say, as there was so much that should have been said, but he kept his parting remarks simple. "Be careful."

Her expression remained unchanged. "You haven't given a damn about me for my whole life. Don't start now."

She followed the others out of the room without looking back. Watching her leave for what could possibly be the last time, he finally began to see what he had given up over the past years. Though his body had been awakened from his long sleep years ago, his soul had been imprisoned by his anger and hate and he had been unable to focus on anything else. As he had passed his legendary weapon over to her, he had realized that in her hands, it could be used to bring about peace for the people he had longed to destroy, that his sole child could begin to right his wrongs. Though it was likely too late to salvage their relationship, he felt the tiniest shred of hope that his entire life hadn't been a waste after all.


End file.
